Town centre suffers an electric shock as power cut hits businesses

MORE than 1,500 businesses and homes were left without power as the lights went out in Bournemouth yesterday.

Restaurant reservations were cancelled, haircuts went unfinished and shoppers were plunged into darkness.

Commercial Road, Exeter Road, Exeter Park Road, Bourne Avenue and Cranborne Road were all hit by a huge power cut, believed to have been caused by Southern Gas, which cut through a cable near the Moon in the Square pub.

The electricity went out in 1,500 businesses and households, with some of Bournemouth’s big-name brands affected.

The businesses hit by the power cut include:

Debenhams – the store was able to keep open with power from a generator, but escalators and lifts were out of action

Burger King – the assistant manager predicted a loss of at least £500 as doors closed over the busy lunchtime period

Next – a sign was placed on the window and the doors stayed locked for over an hour

La Tasca – staff sat at the bar and waited for the lights to come on

Clarks – shoppers were turned away for more than an hour

The Moon in the Square

Managers were told it could be hours before the electricity went back on At Tesco Metro, Simon Peckham, who works in security, was forced to turn hundreds away.

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He said: “A fair few businesses are closed at the moment.

“We’ve been closed for about half an hour so far. There’s no word on how long it’s all going to take at the moment. We have emergency generators to keep the food cool, but the tills are out and it’s a health and safety matter, so we have to stay closed.”

The manager of La Tasca, Marchin Pochec, said the power cut could not have happened at a worse time.

“We’ve got lots of bookings, so it’s a concern,” he said.

“It’s Friday at lunchtime – a busy time for us. We are having to turn people away.”

Scissors Salon was forced to send people home with dripping wet hair when the power went out.

Receptionist Georgina Dibben said: “A lot of our clients booked for today have had to go home with wet hair because we can’t use hairdryers.

“There are people with half of their hair cut. What can you do? We’re just hoping the power comes back soon.”

Clarks shoe shop assistant manager Kelly Robinson said staff had to close their doors when the lights went out.

She said: “It’s really quite bad – we couldn’t believe it when it happened.

“I was upstairs and the next thing I knew, it was just totally black. We’ve just opened the doors to customers again, but we’ve had no power for about an hour. It’s freezing inside.”

Burger King was another big name which had to wait for lights to come back on.

Assistant manager Jamie Cooper said: “We had the snow last week, now this.

“We’re just waiting to see what happens – there isn’t really much else we can do. We don’t know how long it’s going to be off for. It’s bad timing – right over lunchtime.”

He said at least £400 would have been lost from lunchtime.

A Southern Gas spokesman said: “Southern Gas Networks were working in the vicinity of Exeter Road in Bournemouth today carrying out new gas connections. “Early indications are that we may have accidentally damaged an electricity cable during the course of our works and we are working closely with Southern Electric Power Distribution on site.

He said: “You only realise how important your utilities are when they are gone.

“Obviously without power for their lights, heating and security systems these businesses can’t open, which means no customers and no income for four hours in a quiet month.

“There are health and safety concerns; if someone trips up because it is dark the business would be liable, and they may have valuable stock which would be at risk with alarms and CCTV out of action.

“I have to say, in my 38 years here I have always found the utility companies take these events very seriously and deal with them quickly, especially in the town centre. Power cuts are usually brief, so to have one lasting this long suggests it is a serious problem.

“The priority must be to get the problem fixed as soon as possible.”

Customers thanked for patience

SOUTHERN Electric yesterday apologised to all the customers affected by the large-scale power cut in Bournemouth.

They said the loss of power began at around noon following reports of third-party damage to one of their high voltage cables.

An engineer was called to central Bournemouth and identified that the damage took place in Exeter Road. Workers remained on site until all power was restored.

Hannah Gleave, spokeswoman for Southern Electric, said: “Initially, 1,500 customers were affected and our engineers managed to re-route electricity supply to all but 171 customers by around 1pm.

So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is: "Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."

So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is:
"Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."Old Colonial

So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is: "Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."

Score: 0

noggath says...10:23am Sat 26 Jan 13

street lights managed to stay on all day long in town

street lights managed to stay on all day long in townnoggath

street lights managed to stay on all day long in town

Score: 0

dirtyboy says...10:56am Sat 26 Jan 13

whoopee dee!! parts of purbeck was out of electric from about 06.45 until 2pm last week but we survived ok wait until all sources of power run out the anti:s will soon want the windmills then on land or out to sea!!!

whoopee dee!! parts of purbeck was out of electric from about 06.45 until 2pm last week but we survived ok wait until all sources of power run out the anti:s will soon want the windmills then
on land or out to sea!!!dirtyboy

whoopee dee!! parts of purbeck was out of electric from about 06.45 until 2pm last week but we survived ok wait until all sources of power run out the anti:s will soon want the windmills then on land or out to sea!!!

Score: 0

crispy_pants says...1:14pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!!

Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!!crispy_pants

Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!!

Score: 0

Lord Spring says...1:24pm Sat 26 Jan 13

At Tesco Metro, Simon Peckham, who works in security, was forced to turn hundreds away.. I always thought Tesco was powerful that confirms it, forcing staff to do things

At Tesco Metro, Simon Peckham, who works in security, was forced to turn hundreds away..
I always thought Tesco was powerful
that confirms it, forcing staff to do thingsLord Spring

At Tesco Metro, Simon Peckham, who works in security, was forced to turn hundreds away.. I always thought Tesco was powerful that confirms it, forcing staff to do things

Score: 0

Isosceles says...1:49pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Which parts of the non-conducting and inanimate objects in the Town Centre suffered an electric shock. I thought that only humans and other living things could suffer from the passage of electricity through their bodies. Was any-one killed or injured because of the Echo generated electric shock? As for the hair-dresser sending clients home with 'dripping wet hair', haven't they got any towels?

Which parts of the non-conducting and inanimate objects in the Town Centre suffered an electric shock.
I thought that only humans and other living things could suffer from the passage of electricity through their bodies.
Was any-one killed or injured because of the Echo generated electric shock?
As for the hair-dresser sending clients home with 'dripping wet hair', haven't they got any towels?Isosceles

Which parts of the non-conducting and inanimate objects in the Town Centre suffered an electric shock. I thought that only humans and other living things could suffer from the passage of electricity through their bodies. Was any-one killed or injured because of the Echo generated electric shock? As for the hair-dresser sending clients home with 'dripping wet hair', haven't they got any towels?

Score: 0

BBC Escapee says...4:45pm Sat 26 Jan 13

crispy_pants wrote…

Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!!

Business as usual at the Town Hall - 'The lights are on but nobody's home'

[quote][p][bold]crispy_pants[/bold] wrote:
Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!![/p][/quote]Business as usual at the Town Hall -
'The lights are on but nobody's home'BBC Escapee

crispy_pants wrote…

Do you think the lights are still out at your Town Hall? !!!!!!!

Business as usual at the Town Hall - 'The lights are on but nobody's home'

Score: 0

Sagacity says...7:15pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Surprised that this news item made the headlines of the Daily Echo today, in my part of Broadstone we had 3 power cuts during Christmas week including one on Boxing Day and another later in the week lasting about 6 hours. It did not even have a mention in the smallest column of an inside page in the Echo. I believe the problems were caused by water after the heavy rains, and I must say the way that Southern Electric dealt with the situation was excellent, including turning out on Boxing day evening.

Surprised that this news item made the headlines of the Daily Echo today, in my part of Broadstone we had 3 power cuts during Christmas week including one on Boxing Day and another later in the week lasting about 6 hours. It did not even have a mention in the smallest column of an inside page in the Echo.
I believe the problems were caused by water after the heavy rains, and I must say the way that Southern Electric dealt with the situation was excellent, including turning out on Boxing day evening.Sagacity

Surprised that this news item made the headlines of the Daily Echo today, in my part of Broadstone we had 3 power cuts during Christmas week including one on Boxing Day and another later in the week lasting about 6 hours. It did not even have a mention in the smallest column of an inside page in the Echo. I believe the problems were caused by water after the heavy rains, and I must say the way that Southern Electric dealt with the situation was excellent, including turning out on Boxing day evening.

Score: 0

jobsworthwatch says...8:39am Sun 27 Jan 13

“You only realise how important your utilities are when they are gone." Unless Its the town hall where it wouldn't an iota of difference.

“You only realise how important your utilities are when they are gone."
Unless Its the town hall where it wouldn't an iota of difference.jobsworthwatch

“You only realise how important your utilities are when they are gone." Unless Its the town hall where it wouldn't an iota of difference.

Score: 0

glendower2909 says...5:15pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Old Colonial wrote…

So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is: "Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."

A tad harsh perhaps....do you really want to see someone out of work on the basis that they put their shovel in the wrong place?

[quote][p][bold]Old Colonial[/bold] wrote:
So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is:
"Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."[/p][/quote]A tad harsh perhaps....do you really want to see someone out of work on the basis that they put their shovel in the wrong place?glendower2909

Old Colonial wrote…

So that's 960 words of waffle, when what people would like to read is: "Southern Gas employee dismissed for causing disruption to Bournemouth town centre."

A tad harsh perhaps....do you really want to see someone out of work on the basis that they put their shovel in the wrong place?

Ipsoregulated

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